Desktop card processor

ABSTRACT

A desktop card processor having increased card processing capabilities without increasing the horizontal footprint of the card processor. The card processor utilizes multiple card processing levels stacked in vertically separated levels to minimize the horizontal footprint of the card processor.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to plastic card processing equipment, particularlydesktop processing equipment, that perform at least one processingoperation on a plastic card, such as a credit card, driver's license,identification card and the like. More particularly, the inventionrelates to desktop card processing equipment having at least twovertically separate card processing levels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Plastic cards are used in a number of applications, such asidentification cards, security badges, employee badges, driver'slicenses, credit cards, membership cards, and the like. The use of cardprocessing equipment for processing these types of plastic cards is wellknown. In such equipment, a plastic card to be processed is input intothe processing equipment, at least one processing operation is performedon the input card, and the card is then output from the processingequipment. The processing operation(s) performed on the plastic card byknown processing equipment includes one or more of printing, laminating,magnetic stripe encoding, programming of a chip embedded in the card,card cleaning, and the like.

The processing equipment is often configured in the form of a desktopunit. An example of a popular desktop plastic card processing unit is adesktop plastic card printer which performs monochromatic or multi-colorprinting on a card that is input into the printer. Examples of desktopunits that perform printing are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,426,283;5,762,431; 5,886,726; 6,315,283; 6,431,537; and 6,536,758. Of these,U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,283 describes a unit that performs chip programmingin addition to printing.

Desktop card processing equipment is designed to be relatively small, sothat the equipment can fit onto a desk or table. The desktop cardprocessor may be positioned on a support surface with other officemachines and workspace, so that table and desk space is at a premium.Therefore, the amount of desk or table space required for the desktopcard processor (i.e., its “footprint”) should be minimized.

At the same time, it is desirable that a piece of desktop cardprocessing equipment be able to perform multiple card processingoperations, thereby increasing the performance capability of theequipment.

Additionally, desktop card processors should be easy to operate andmaintain with only a minimal amount of specialized training. Desktopcard processors are often operated by personnel for whom producing cardsis only an incidental portion of their job, such as a security guard ora desk clerk, and not by personnel who have special training in suchequipment. The operation and maintenance of the card processor shouldthus be relatively intuitive and straightforward. Furthermore, the cardsthat are output from the card processor must be of the highest quality,attractive, and durable.

While existing desktop card processing equipment has proven adequate,there is a continuing need for further improvements. In particular,there is a need for desktop card processing equipment that can performmultiple card processing operations on a card while maintaining arelatively compact footprint for the processing equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to plastic card processing equipment forprocessing data bearing plastic cards, such as credit cards, driver'slicenses, identification cards, loyalty cards and the like. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to a desktop card processor that iscapable of performing multiple processing operations on a card whilemaintaining a compact footprint. The card processor is configured sothat cards to be processed and processed cards are positioned on oneside of the card processor. This allows the card processor to bepositioned on a desk against a wall or in a corner for more efficientutilization of space.

The card processor maintains a compact footprint on account of havingmultiple card processing levels stacked in vertically separated levels.The cards are loaded into the card processor and processed on an uppercard processing level, then are flipped and lowered to a lower cardprocessing level for additional processing.

The upper card processing level can comprise a printing mechanism andone or more other card processing mechanisms, and the lower cardprocessing level can comprise one or more laminating mechanisms and oneor more other card processing mechanisms. This arrangement allows thecard processor to incorporate dual laminating mechanisms to laminateboth sides of a card in a single pass without significantly increasingthe footprint of the card processor.

Further, the card processor is configured to allow the lamination foil,which is consumed by the card processor during operation and must bereplaced when the supply is depleted, or other consumable foil used bythe card processing equipment, to be replaced without opening themachine cover. The lamination foil cartridge(s) is directly accessiblefrom the outside of the card processor. This allows the lamination foilto be replaced by an operator without having to open any portion of theprocessor housing.

The card processor also includes a space-saving output hopper that holdsa relatively large number of processed cards without increasing theoverall height of the card processor. The space-saving output hopper isconfigured so that it may be positioned over the edge of a table or deskor act as a support for the front end of the card processor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1E are schematic illustrations of variations of a cardprocessor according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a card processor according to theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the card processoraccording to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a card reorienting mechanism used in thecard processor.

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional detail view of an output hopper of the cardprocessor where the output hopper overhangs a table.

FIG. 5B is a side view of the card processor showing the output hopperacting as a support leg for the card processor.

FIG. 6A is front perspective view of the card processor with the outputhopper removed.

FIG. 6B is a rear perspective view of the output hopper.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a lamination foil cartridge loaded withthe foil and with the foil separate.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a lamination foil cartridge loaded witha roll of lamination foil.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a card processor with a laser-engravingmechanism.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a card processor with alaser-engraving mechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Improvements to plastic card processing equipment, particularly desktopcard processing equipment, for processing data bearing plastic cards,such as credit cards, driver's licenses, identification cards, loyaltycards and the like, are described herein. Desktop card processingequipment described herein have enhanced space utilization, while havingenhanced card processing capabilities.

A desktop card processor according to the invention will be described asperforming operations on a plastic card. For example, the plastic cardcan be ID1-sized plastic card, but the concepts described herein couldbe used with cards of other sizes or made of material compositions otherthan plastic. A card generally has two substantially flat faces that maybe referred to as the front side and back side of the card.

In addition, the desktop card processor according to the invention isconfigured to perform multiple processing operations on a card.Processing operations that can be performed on the card includesmultiple ones of at least the following exemplary processing operations:multi-color printing, monochromatic printing, laminating, card cleaning,magnetic stripe encoding, laser printing, embedded computer chipprogramming, card de-bowing, indenting and embossing. Other cardprocessing operations would be encompassed by the concepts of theinvention was well.

The desktop card processor described herein has multiple card processinglevels stacked in generally vertically separated levels, and input andoutput hoppers on the same end of the processor. The card processor willbe described with respect to a card traveling initially along an uppercard processing level and thereafter being transported downward to alower card processing level which transports the card along the lowerprocessing level to the output hopper. However, as an alternative, thecard could initially travel along the lower card processing level afterbeing fed from a lower input hopper, then be transported upward to theupper card processing level which transports the card along the upperlevel to an output hopper located above the input hopper.

FIGS. 1A-1E are schematic illustrations of exemplary variations of cardprocessors that incorporate concepts of the invention. Common to each ofthe illustrated variations is a card input hopper H1 that is capable ofholding a plurality of cards to be processed and a card output hopper H2that is capable of holding a plurality of processed cards where thehoppers H1, H2 are located at what will be referred to as the front endregion of the card processor, an upper card processing level L1, a lowercard processing level L2, a plurality of card processing mechanisms M oneach level and each of which is configured to perform a processingoperation on a card, a card transport T1 for the upper card processinglevel and a card transport T2 for the lower card processing level fortransporting cards along the processing levels L1, L2, and at least onereorienting mechanism R for transporting cards between the cardprocessing levels L1, L2.

In the card processor 5A shown in FIG. 1A, the card processingmechanisms M of the upper level L1 include a cleaning mechanism forcleaning the front and/or back of the card, a color printing mechanism,a smart card mechanism for programming an integrated circuit chip on acard, a magnetic stripe encoding mechanism, and an optional otherprocessing mechanism. The card processing mechanisms M of the lowerlevel L2 include two lamination mechanisms for laminating the front andback of the card, a debowing mechanism for removing any bowing in thecard that may have occurred, and any other processing mechanism that mybe desired. The transport T1 takes a card from the input hopper H1 andtransports the card to and through the card processing mechanisms M ofthe upper level L1. The card is then fed into the reorienting mechanismR which reorients the card to permit it to be transported downward to asecond reorienting mechanism R associated with the lower level L2. Thesecond mechanism R reorients the card suitable for card processing atthe level L2, and the transport T2 transports the card to and throughthe card processing mechanisms M and ultimately to the output hopper H2.

The card processor 5B shown in FIG. 1B is similar to the card processor5A shown in FIG. 1A, but also includes an additional card processingmechanism M in the form of a laser engraving mechanism associated withthe level L1 and an optical laser mechanism associated with the levelL2. The laser engraving and optical laser mechanisms are disposedgenerally at the rear of the card processor.

The card processor 5C shown in FIG. 1C is similar to the processor 5Bshown in FIG. 1B, but includes a third card processing level L3 betweenthe levels L1 and L2.

The card processor 5D shown in FIG. 1D is similar to the processor 5Ashown in FIG. 1A, but includes card processing levels on each side ofthe card reorienting mechanisms R, as well as hoppers H1 and H2 at therear of the card processor.

The card processor 5E shown in FIG. 1E includes two card processinglevels L1, L2 but uses a single reorienting mechanism R that servicesboth levels L1, L2.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 2 which illustrates a specificimplementation of a card processor 20 in perspective view. Cardprocessor 20 includes a housing 26 having an input/output end 21 with acard input hopper 22 adjacent to input/output end 21 for staging cardsto be processed and a card output hopper 24 for receiving processedcards from the card processor. Card processor 20 also includes a userdisplay and input 28 at the input/output end 21 where relevantinformation concerning the status and operation of the card processorcan be communicated to the operator and the operator can enter commands,a manual card recovery knob 30 adjacent a side surface 23 that allows acard to be manually advanced through a lower processing level of theprocessor (a similar knob is located on the non-visible side of theprocessor for manually advancing a card through an upper processinglevel), and an access lid 36 adjacent a top surface 25 of the housing 26for accessing the internal mechanisms of the card processor. The sidesurface 23 defines a pair of lamination foil cartridge cavities 32, 34each of which receives a lamination foil cartridge 40, shown in FIGS. 2,6 and 7. The lamination foil cartridges 40 will be discussed in greaterdetail below.

For convenience in describing the figures, the input/output end 21 ofthe card processor 20 will be described as being at a front end regionof the processor, while the opposite end of the processor will bereferred to as being a back end region 17 of the processor. Furthermore,the card processor has an upper end region and a lower end region 9.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of the cardprocessor 20. The card processor 20 comprises a plurality of cardprocessing mechanisms 42 a, 42 b; card transports 44 a, 44 b; and cardreorienting mechanisms 46 a, 46 b. Card transport 44 a can be called anupper card transport and card transport 44 b can be called a lower cardtransport. Similarly, card reorienting mechanism 46 a can be called anupper card reorienting mechanism, and card reorienting mechanism 46 bcan be called a lower card reorienting mechanism.

The group of components comprising the card processing mechanisms 42 a,the upper card transport 44 a, and the upper card reorienting mechanism46 a defines an upper or first card processing level 15. The group ofcomponents comprising the card processing mechanisms 42 b, the lowercard transport 44 b, and the card reorienting mechanism 46 b define alower or second card processing level 13.

Card processing mechanisms 42 a, 42 b can perform any of a number oftypes of card processing operations. For example, the card processingmechanisms 42 a, 42 b may perform multi-color printing, monochromaticprinting, laminating, card cleaning, magnetic stripe encoding, laserprinting, embedded computer chip programming, card de-bowing, indenting,embossing, etc.

Card transports 44 a, 44 b are used to transfer cards from the inputhopper 22 to the first card processing mechanism, from one cardprocessing mechanism to the next card processing mechanism, and from thelast processing mechanism to the output hopper. These card transports 44a, 44 b are capable of imparting generally linear motion to a card andmay comprise any of a number of types of mechanisms for imparting motionto cards. For example, card transports 44 a, 44 b may comprise a seriesof rollers driven by electric motors and a suitable drive train.Examples of a suitable transport mechanism for transporting cards in adesktop card processor are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,762,431 and5,886,726, each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

When a card reaches the end of the card transport 44 a, the card istransferred from the upper card processing level 15 to the lower cardprocessing level 13 by means of card reorienting mechanisms 46 a, 46 b.The card reorienting mechanisms 46 a, 46 b—also known as duplexers—maybe of the type disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/716,579filed on Nov. 17, 2003, which is hereby incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

FIG. 4 illustrates one possible embodiment of a card reorientingmechanism 46 a, 46 b of the type disclosed in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/716,579. In operation, upper card transport 45 a feeds acard into upper card reorienting mechanism 46 a. In the disclosedconfiguration, cards are transported in a generally horizontalorientation. Upper card reorienting mechanism 46 a rotates the card toan approximately vertical orientation so that the card points downwardtoward the lower card reorienting mechanism 46 b. The card is then fedfrom the upper card reorienting mechanism 46 a to lower card reorientingmechanism 46 b, which then rotates the card back to its approximatelyhorizontal orientation with either the front or back surface facingupward depending upon whether the front or back surface of the card isto be processed next. The card is then transferred to lower cardtransport 44 b, which transports the card to the processing mechanismsin the lower card processing level 13. Other examples of duplexmechanisms for reorienting a card are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,806,999; 5,771,058; 5,768,143; and 6,279,901.

Some cards may require certain processing operations to be performed onboth sides of the card. For example, a card may require information tobe printed on both sides of the card and/or both sides of the card needto be laminated. This may be accomplished in several ways. The necessarycard processing mechanisms could be located on both sides of the cardtransport 44 a, 44 b to allow processing operations to be performed onboth sides of the card as the card makes a single pass along a cardtransport 44 a, 44 b. As an alternative, a card can also be processed onboth sides of the card by transporting it through one card processinglevel in opposite orientations. For example, on the upper cardprocessing level 15 this can be accomplished by feeding the card intoupper card transport 44 a, flipping the card 180 degrees in the uppercard reorienting mechanism 46 a, transferring the card back into uppercard transport 44 a, operating upper card transport 45 a in the reversedirection so that the card moves toward the front end region of theprocessor, reversing the direction of the upper card transport 45 aagain so that the card moves through the processing mechanism(s) 42 atoward the back end region of the processor, and processing the card asit passes through the appropriate card processing mechanisms 42 a.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the card output hopper 24 isconfigured to allow a large storage capacity without increasing theheight of the processor. Cards are discharged from the card processorinto the card output hopper 24 at the end of the lower card transport 44b nearest the front end of the processor. As can be seen in FIG. 5A, thecard output hopper 24 extends below the lower end region 9 of the cardprocessor. This allows the card processor operator to position the cardoutput hopper 24 over the edge of a table or a desk 100, thereby causingthe card processor to sit flush on the flat bottom surface of theprocessor. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5B, the card output hopper 24can rest on the table or desk 100 and act as a support leg or a“kickstand” for the front end of the card processor, adding slightly tothe height of the processor.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate how the output hopper 24 attaches to the cardprocessor. The hopper 24 includes a pair of spaced resilient arms 270that extend from the rear thereof, as shown in FIG. 6B. The arms 270each include an angled ramp section 272 and a curved retention section274. The arms 270 are designed to snap-fit connect with a shaft 276(shown in FIG. 6A) adjacent the front end of the card processor 20, asshown in FIG. 5A. A pair of flanges 271 are associated with the arms 270and are disposed above the shaft 276 when the hopper 24 is connected tothe card processor as shown in FIG. 5A to prevent downward movement ofthe hopper 24. Similarly, a pair of flanges 273 are disposed underneaththe shaft 276 to prevent upward movement of the hopper 24.

The output hopper 24 also includes a structure 278 that acts as thesupport leg in FIG. 5B. The structure 278 extends beyond the sides ofthe output hopper 24, and raised bosses 279 are defined at the top ofthe structure 278. With reference to FIG. 6A, a pair of resilientfingers 280 are defined adjacent the bottom of the card processor andproject toward the front of the processor (only one finger 280 isvisible in FIG. 6A; the second finger is hidden behind element 281). Thefingers 280 include detents 282 defined on the bottom thereof that snapfit engage with the raised bosses 279 of the structure 278 as shown inFIG. 5A. This connection between the hopper 24 and card processor allowsthe hopper 24 to support the card processor when the hopper acts as thesupport leg in FIG. 5B.

In one embodiment, the upper card processing level 15 has a single cardprocessing mechanism 42 a in the form of a multi-color printer, whilethe lower card processing level 13 has two card processing mechanisms 42b each of which is a laminator. Preferably one laminating mechanism 42 bis positioned above lower card transport 44 b and the second laminatingmechanism 42 b is positioned below lower card transport 44 b. Thisconfiguration facilitates one-pass lamination of the front and back ofthe card.

Referring to FIG. 7, the laminating mechanisms utilize lamination foilcartridges 40 that are inserted through the openings 32, 34 in theoutside of the housing 26. The cartridges 40 are accessible to theoperator without the operator being required to open a cover of thehousing 26 or removing any portion of the housing 26. As a result,access to, and replacement of, the lamination foil on the cartridges 40is made easier.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, each lamination foil cartridge 40 comprisesan exterior housing 200 and a base plate 201 fixed to the housing 200. Asupply spindle 202 and an uptake spindle 203 are rotatably affixed tothe base plate 201. Affixed to uptake spindle 203 is a gear 206 thatengages a drive gear 250. The drive gear 250 is connected to a niproller 226 which has a boss 252 on the end thereof. The boss 252 engageswith a drive mechanism (not shown) inside the card processor when thecartridge 40 is inserted into the processor.

A gate mechanism 254 is pivotally connected to a fixed shaft 256 on thebase plate 201. The gate mechanism 254 is pivotable between a first,open position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and a second, closed positionshown in FIG. 2 where the gate mechanism 254 is disposed over thelamination foil. The gate mechanism 254 includes an idler roller 258rotatably mounted thereon that opposes the nip roller 226 when the gatemechanism 254 is at the second position. Further, the gate mechanism 254includes a large rectangular opening 260 that permits access to thelamination foil when the gate mechanism is closed, as shown in FIG. 2.

A lamination foil 208 to be used is disposed on a supply roll 204 thatis inserted onto the supply spindle 202 and the take-up end of the foil208 is pre-attached to an uptake roll 205 that is disposed on the uptakespindle 203. When properly positioned and with the gate mechanism 254closed, the lamination foil 208 runs over guide bar 210, under the guidebar 216 on the gate mechanism 254, over the top of guide bars 212 and214, and between the nip formed by the nip roller 226 and roller 258. Inaddition, the lamination foil is guided along its edges by means of achannel formed between tabs 218, 220 affixed to guide bars 212, 214 andsteps 222, 224 formed at the ends of the guide bars 212, 214. A suitablelamination foil for use in the card processor is disclosed in commonlyowned, copending application Ser. No.11/051,125, titled SHEET MATERIALWITH INDEX OPENINGS AND METHOD FOR MAKING AND USING A SHEET MATERIALWITH INDEX OPENINGS, and filed on Feb. 4, 2005.

In operation, the lamination foil is advanced to expose a new section oflamination foil between guide bar 212 and guide bar 214 each time a cardis to be laminated. Advancement of the lamination foil is achieved bydriving the nip roller 226. The nip formed between the nip roller 226and the idler roller 258 is sufficient to advance the foil in thedirection of the arrow in FIG. 8 when the nip roller 226 is driven. Whenthis occurs, the gear 250 drives the gear 206 which causes the take-uproll 205 to take-up slack foil.

The drive mechanism that drives the nip roller 226 preferably includes aclutch mechanism that prevents overdriving of the foil. The card to belaminated is driven at a slightly faster speed than the foil. Therefore,the movement of the card may cause the foil to advance at a faster ratethan desired. The clutch mechanism prevents this and ensures that thefoil is advanced at a constant rate.

When the foil is used up and the end of the foil is reached, the foilpulls away (i.e. detaches) from the supply roll 204. Referring to FIG.8, a chopper wheel 230 is connected to and rotates with the supplyspindle 202. The chopper wheel 230 includes a plurality of spaced teethseparated by gaps. A sensing mechanism (not shown) is positioned tosense rotation of the chopper wheel 230 by sensing the alternating teethand gaps. When the chopper wheel 230 fails to rotate when rotation isexpected, the card processor knows that the end of the foil has beenreached and has pulled away from the supply roll 204.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, the card processor 20 may include alaser engraving mechanism 50 for performing laser personalization on thecard. The laser engraving mechanism 50 may be located as an add-onmechanism toward the rear 17 of the card processor 20, with portions ofthe mechanism 50 extending under the card processor as shown in FIG. 10.

With reference to FIG. 9, the laser engraving mechanism 50 comprises apower supply 66 for powering the laser and a printed circuit assembly(PCA) board 64 for controlling the laser and/or portions or all of theprocessor 20. A laser head 62 generates a laser beam, which is expandedby beam expander 60. The transmission of the laser beam is regulated bya beam shutter and solenoid 58, which is controlled by the PCA board 64.Proximate the beam shutter and solenoid 58 is a beam deflector 56 fordeflecting the beam to create a useful pattern on the card. The beam isthen transmitted to a F-Theta lens 54 which focuses the beam to a focalpoint.

To engrave a card, the card is transferred from the upper cardreorienting mechanism 46 a into a card stage 52. The card stage 52 isconfigured to orient the card at various angles with respect to thedirection of the laser beam and configured to translate the card up anddown as shown by the arrows in FIG. 10 to keep the card surface beingengraved at the focal point. A suitable card stage 52 is used in theDCL30 Desktop Card Laser Personalization System available from DataCardCorporation of Minnetonka, Minn.

Further, as indicated in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the card processor may alsoinclude an optical laser that is capable of writing and reading data toand from a surface of an optical memory card. Optical laser structurefor writing and reading data on optical data cards is known in the art,including the LaserCard® 600-Q optical card read/write drive availablefrom LaserCard Corporation of Mountain View, Calif.

The above specification and examples provide a complete description ofthe invention. Many embodiments of the invention, not explicitlydescribed herein, can be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

1. A desktop card processor for performing processing operations oncards, comprising: a card input hopper located adjacent a front endportion of the card processor for staging cards to be processed by thecard processor; a card output hopper located adjacent the front endportion of the card processor for receiving processed cards, wherein thecard input hopper and the card output hopper are generally verticallyseparated one above the other; a first card processing level including:i) at least one card processing mechanism configured to perform aprocessing operation on a card, ii) a first card reorienting mechanismconfigured to reorient a card received thereby, and iii) a first cardtransport for conveying a card along the first card processing levelincluding from the card input hopper to the card processing mechanismand from the card processing mechanism to the first card reorientingmechanism; a second card processing level including: i) at least onecard processing mechanism configured to perform a processing operationon a card, ii) a second card reorienting mechanism configured to receivea card from the first card reorienting mechanism and to reorient thecard received thereby, and iii) a second card transport for conveying acard along the second card processing level including from the secondcard reorienting mechanism to the card processing mechanism of thesecond card processing level and from the card processing mechanism ofthe second card processing level to the card output hopper; and whereinthe first card processing level and the second card processing level aregenerally vertically separated one above the other.
 2. The desktop cardprocessor of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second cardprocessing levels comprises a plurality of card processing mechanisms.3. The desktop card processor of claim 2, wherein the card processingmechanism of at least one of the first and second card processing levelscomprises a laminator, and the card processing mechanism of the other ofthe first and second card processing levels comprises a card printer. 4.The desktop card processor of claim 2, wherein at least two of the cardprocessing mechanisms comprise laminators.
 5. The desktop card processorof claim 4, wherein the two laminators are part of the second cardprocessing level.
 6. The desktop card processor of claim 2, wherein foreach of the first and second card processing levels, there is at leastone card processing mechanism positioned on one side of the respectivefirst or second card reorienting mechanism and at least one cardprocessing mechanism positioned on the opposite side of the respectivefirst or second card reorienting mechanism.
 7. The desktop cardprocessor of claim 1, wherein the at least one card processing mechanismof the first or second level is selected from one or more of thefollowing: a printing mechanism, a magnetic stripe encoding mechanism, achip encoding mechanism, a card cleaning mechanism, a card debowingmechanism, a card laminator mechanism, a card embossing mechanism, anindent mechanism, a laser engraving mechanism, an optical lasermechanism.
 8. The desktop card processor of claim 1, wherein the outputhopper extends below a bottom surface of the card processor.
 9. Thedesktop card processor of claim 1, wherein at least one of the cardprocessing mechanisms of the first or second card processing levelscomprises a laser engraving mechanism.
 10. The desktop card processor ofclaim 9, wherein the laser engraving mechanism is located adjacent arear end portion of the card processor.
 11. The desktop card processorof claim 1, wherein the first card processing level is positionedgenerally vertically above the second card processing level.
 12. Thedesktop card processor of claim 11, wherein the second card processinglevel comprises at least one laminator.
 13. A desktop card processor forperforming processing operations on cards, comprising: a card inputhopper located adjacent a front end portion of the card processor forstaging cards to be processed by the card processor; a card outputhopper located adjacent the front end portion of the card processor forreceiving processed cards, wherein the card input hopper and the cardoutput hopper are generally vertically separated one above the other; afirst card processing level including: i) at least first and second cardprocessing mechanisms each of which is configured to perform aprocessing operation on a card, and ii) a first card transport forconveying a card along the first card processing level including fromthe card input hopper to the first card processing mechanism and fromthe first card processing mechanism to the second card processingmechanism; a second card processing level including: i) at least onecard processing mechanism which is configured to perform a processingoperation on a card, and ii) a second card transport for conveying acard along the second card processing level including to the cardprocessing mechanism of the second card processing level and from thecard processing mechanism of the second card processing level to thecard output hopper; wherein the first card processing level and thesecond card processing level are generally vertically separated oneabove the other; and a transport mechanism for receiving a card from thefirst card transport and transporting the card to the second cardtransport.
 14. The desktop card processor of claim 13, wherein thetransport mechanism comprises first and second reorienting mechanisms.15. The desktop card processor of claim 13, wherein the second cardprocessing level comprises at least first and second card processingmechanisms.
 16. The desktop card processor of claim 13, wherein the cardprocessing mechanisms of the first and second card processing levels areselected from: a printing mechanism, a magnetic stripe encodingmechanism, a chip encoding mechanism, a card cleaning mechanism, a carddebowing mechanism, a card laminator mechanism, a laser engravingmechanism, an optical laser mechanism, a card embossing mechanism, acard indent mechanism.
 17. The desktop card processor of claim 13,wherein at least one of the card processing mechanisms of the first orsecond card processing levels comprises a laser engraving mechanism. 18.The desktop card processor of claim 17, wherein the laser engravingmechanism is located adjacent a rear end portion of the card processor.19. The desktop card processor of claim 13, wherein the first cardprocessing level is positioned generally vertically above the secondcard processing level.
 20. The desktop card processor of claim 19,wherein the second card processing level comprises at least onelaminator.